This new gas price proposal is bonkers

[whenwillthemadnessend]

Tying us into a possible 20 year loan at a cost of 90-130 billion with no guarantee of future gas prices and no incentive for people to change behaviour to save gas save money and save the planet

I may be dead in 20 years and my kids will be paying this off for ever plus covid.

It's the worst idea ever!!!!

Yes, we should just evolve to stop feeling the cold 🙄

Random thoughts:
I agree we should have tiered pricing to discourage overconsumption (I say that as a high energy user who is cutting back). And unfortunately there is no getting around the fact that there is still not enough energy to go around, so how are we going to account for that?

We can’t force a windfall tax on Norwegian producers.

Regardless of that, as others have pointed out it is the banks that are currently making the most profits due to hedging (and we CAN tax at least SOME of them).

Now they have elected Truss, it won’t be too long until we have a Labour government, so presumably they can recoup some of the taxes from banks and generators at that point.

Bingo

I was born 10 years before you so I was paying it till 53, not to mention paying off the loans to compensate the slave owners 120 years before I was born, until I was 61.

Gas is used to generate electricity..
old coal
fired stations were closed.
Battersea Power Station in London used to generate electricity.. The turbine hall is now an Art gallery.

Yes, we should just evolve to stop feeling the cold

Yes, there is a definite air of eco morality on these threads.

l feel the cold really badly. I’ll put the heating up as high as l need rather than ‘change my behaviour’ to feel fucking freezing.

Not morality!!! I meant superiority!

I think there’s a lot of room to reform the electricity market. We’re on a renewable tariff from a 100% renewable provider but still paying the top whack price for electricity from gas because that’s how the national grid works, it seems. The bloke from Octopus did a good explainer here: twitter.com/octopusenergy/status/1501972812910800905?s=21&t=woAYb08u0mIPS1ZKKny5Ng

I don't think it is bonkers, but certainly not perfect.

The bottom are still going to struggle, as the price is significantly higher than last year, on top of increased costs of everything else.

The top are benefiting typically more than most, as their bills are typically higher (though not always).

The middle are likely not to cut back as much as they otherwise would have done, which doesn't help supply issues and risk of blackouts etc (not to mention the let's not kill the environment thing).

I think tiered pricing, so it is affordable to wash, cook and heat your home to a safe and comfortable level, with higher usage charged at unsubsidised rate (with exemptions for medical needs etc) would take the pressure off households, whilst keeping tighter control on usage.

I think tiered pricing would be great but I’ve been thinking about how you’d implement it. I think everyone would need a smart meter? If the meters only get rid by someone every six months (and that might not happen in all households) how do you work out the usage at the different prices?

I agree op. People in 4-5 bedroom houses now for £208 on will just bang the heating on all day, it’s probably less than they were paying.

this won’t help the low earners who can’t even afford £2500 per year anyway, only the rich.

it is not just heating though
gas is used so much more
in so much manufacturing

Maybe too late now, as would have been best to implement over Spring and Summer but how many billions would it cost the govt to install solar panels on every home (with the home owners either allowed to keep at their maintenance cost but get paid for energy sent to the grid or govt owned and govt keeps energy sent to grid but pay ongoing maintenance)?

Would that be more or less than 100 billion? It would also cover people in years to come.

How many times does this need to be explained. It’s the unit price for energy that’s capped. The amount quoted is indicative for an average sized house/average usage. It’s not the maximum amount a household will pay. If you use more than average and/or live in a larger than average house, you’ll pay more than the cap.

We need to get full ahead with 100% renewable energy so we do not find ourselves on this again.
Invest in tidal and wave energy, wind power, solar and fund research in new technologies pronto.
I am glad that they are talking of loans to sort the immediate doom. But if we do not address the root of the problem, we will go from bad to worst.
I think people will reduce their usage anyway. At least we are.

Truss the Terrible is more into fracking than renewables I think

@MintJulia But those earning over £50k will still struggle. We earn £65k and come December/January we will not be able to afford the bill. Not because we use too much, our usage is actually around 20% under the cap limits, but because I'm towards the end of maternity leave and about to pay £1500 per month in nursery fees (that's my husbands salary all on nursery fees. Any and all of our disposable income is about to be taken by nursery and energy.

Higher earners usually have higher outgoings. The only people not affected will be multi millionaires.

@MushMonster There is already alot of R&D being done into clean energy. Or there was until Truss cuts all R&D funding and civil servants managing the programmes to counteract the tax cuts.

Can I just ask for some advice as I really struggle to get my head around it! Our fixed rate expired about 2 weeks ago so we've just renewed with another provider, the rates obviously being based on the amount increasing in October. Are we better to see if we can cancel this based on todays announcement? We might still be in the window to cancel without penalty but if not, would we be better to buy ourselves out of the contract or stick with it?
Thanks

I would say LOL but it’s nothing to laugh about.

Battersea Power Station in London used to generate electricity.. The turbine hall is now an Art gallery.

An extremely beautiful one!

No. That would cost far, far more than £100bn. Also - the national grid does not have capacity to store the energy generated. This is part of the problem. We have storage for a pathetic volume of gas now, also.

@Xfox I don't think domestic usage will make as significant impact as business usage. Shops could reduce their heating or close the doors, factory's and offices could turn the lights off at night or when empty, plant machinery can be turned off when not used. Businesses waste alot as its to much effort to reduce.

@ooherrmissus14 if you are still within your cooling off period I suggest you cancel it. If your new tariff has no exit fees, you should be able to switch regardless, but if you do have exit fees, you may have to pay them (hopefully suppliers will waive them but it’s not a certainty).

My mum got notification of how much her energy bills are going up today, she was in tears as she just doesn't know how she will pay. She is nearly 84, I don't care what they do but I just want it sorting so my mum isn't constantly worrying, can heat her home, use whatever appliances she wants & has enough money left for her only pleasure, buying books for her kindle. Mum is a widow, doesn't go out but deserves to not have sleepless nights about her bills.